March 12, 2008 News+Opinion » Barney Blakeney

How integration led to the decline of black-owned businesses 

A Center of Activity

by Barney Blakeney
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A few days ago I ran into Clay Middleton, a candidate for the S.C. House of Representatives Dist. 111 seat currently held by Rep. Floyd Breeland. I've long held Middleton in high regard since he was a cadet at The Citadel. He has proven himself to be a leader, first as an Army officer who served in Iraq then as an assistant to Rep. Jim Clyburn and a field organizer for the state Democratic Party. At 26 years old, Middleton seems wise beyond his years.

Our conversation ranged from the state of black America to strategies for bringing more resources to Dist. 111. Ultimately, we discussed the reasons for some of the disparities in the black community.

According to Middleton, his generation of African Americans seems to think they have no reason to continue the quest for equal rights and opportunities. But he says nothing could be further from the truth.

The need to continue pushing for equal opportunity is as great today as it was in the past. While there has been progress socially, economic progress has been a lot slower.

Another participant in the discussion suggested that integration has led to what many consider stagnated economic progress in the black community. The premise is one I've heard many times. Before integration, black-owned businesses flourished, the guy said. In the past, Morris Street in downtown Charleston, along with Spring and Cannon streets, was a vibrant center of activity for black business. Those businesses flourished because blacks were unwelcome in many white-owned businesses.

A classic example of how integration caused the demise of many black-owned businesses is the former Dee Dex Snack Bar. During the late 1960s and 1970s, integration opened the doors of fast food restaurants like Piggy Park on Rutledge Avenue and the Patio on Spring Street. Until then, Dee Dex Snack Bar had been the premier fast food restaurant for blacks downtown.

The business was originally located on Calhoun Street where Gaillard Auditorium is now. The auditorium's construction displaced the snack bar and drugstore owned by the late Deward Wilson and scores of black families. When the business relocated to Spring Street, its business continued to flourish, but its days were numbered.

The old Brooks Motel, formerly located on Morris Street, is another example of how integration has contributed to decreasing numbers of viable black-owned businesses. Built prior to the signing of the Civil Rights Act into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, the motel accommodated most of the civil rights leaders when they came to Charleston, including Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Today, there's no sign of the motel or Brooks Restaurant, across from the motel on Morris Street. Both were demolished to make way for condominiums, which have displaced not only businesses but also families in the traditionally black neighborhood.

While integration has contributed to a reduction in the number of black-owned businesses, I'm convinced that our failure to fully implement integration is the greater culprit. America has never fully integrated its society, and that has left many would-be black entrepreneurs out of the economic loop.

Middleton said he thinks education is the key to success for African Americans, economic and otherwise. He hopes that by making a quality education available to more blacks and other minorities, they can create more economic opportunities for themselves and their communities.

As the campaigns for House Dist. 111 develop in the coming months, I'll be interested in seeing how budding new leaders like Middleton address challenging issues like full integration and economic progress among blacks.

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Excerpts of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech on race Tuesday in Philadelphia: I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction: toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every single exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization. ... We've heard my former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation and that rightly offend white and black alike. I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy, and in some cases, pain. The church (Trinity United Church of Christ) contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and, yes, the bitterness and biases that make up the black experience in America. And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. ...He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother, a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are part of America, this country that I love. Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America: to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through, a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their world view in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. And contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle or with a single candidate, particularly - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. But I have asserted a firm conviction, a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people, that, working together, we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds and that, in fact, we have no choice - we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union. America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

Posted by billsail on March 19, 2008 at 3:02 PM | Report this comment

Yes I'm serious. Have you been discrimated against in the past? I am sure you have but you became a success anyway. Did you achieve this success because of a handout? I sincerely doubt it. You achieved your success because of hard work and service in the Army and the Navy who are not known for handing anyone anything. Did you know that you are the person that liberals fear most. A Black American that realized that you didn't need them to succeed. One day we will live in a society where skin color matters about as much as eye color and the day is coming. Can you imagine just a few years ago that there could be a Black American making a serious run for the Whitehouse? Its coming

Posted by thor_61 on March 18, 2008 at 4:13 PM | Report this comment

I had an African American friend when I was a kid. I used to spend the night at his house all the time. We'd play basketball. We watched TV. But mostly we played Nintendo. It's where I beat Super Mario Brothers for the first time. I spent the night there at least 20 times, and he only spent the night at my house once. His parents thought it was because my parents were racist. But the real reason I never invited him over- I didn't have a Nintendo.

Posted by SilenceofLucky on March 18, 2008 at 12:09 PM | Report this comment

>>No one is asking for a handout or believe that society "owes them" 99% of Barn's columns beg to differ.

Posted by billsail on March 18, 2008 at 10:59 AM | Report this comment

Are you guys serious? Yes, at some point people have to get up and do for self. But do you seriously beleive that the past does not dictate the future? If you are left unaware of your start how can one truly feel fulfilled in their future. No one is asking for a handout. I am an african american female who graduated top of my high school and college classes. I am a teacher who holds a Master's degree. I served in both the Army and the Navy. I have also faced racism and been shut out of opportunities because of my race and gender. So yes, understanding the past helps me to understand why there are people still naiive enough to think that racism and inequality doesn't exist. No one is asking for a handout or beleive that society "owes them" but what we are asking for is an understanding of who we are (PAST, present and future).

Posted by r-u-serious?? on March 18, 2008 at 8:20 AM | Report this comment

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